Kinsey says goodbye to mayor's office

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Mayor Patsy Kinsey is beginning to say goodbye. Not to Charlotte politics, but to the mayor's office she's inhabited for the last five months.

"I'm prepared to go back down the hall," Kinsey said Monday.

She was referring to her old City Council office on the 15th floor of the Government Center.

She won re-election to her the District 1 seat she held from 2003 until she was tapped to take over for former mayor Anthony Foxx who is now U.S. Transportation Secretary.

Kinsey said she spent the bulk of her time over the summer dealing with the city's challenge to a state law that attempted to take control of the airport away from the city.

She says she thinks the city is winning the fight, pointing out that despite legal challenges, the city remains in control of airport operations.

"We've got a long way to go," she said. "I think it's going to be a while before all this settles."

Kinsey said she has enjoyed being mayor and isn't ruling out a future run for the office, even as she prepares to go back to her role as a District Council person. She said she might run for mayor down the road. "I don't ever want say that I won't do something."

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